Jaleo, the tapas restaurant, has been around since 1993. When it opened, nobody knew what tapas were and the waiter’s opening remarks about “small plates” were probably informative. There have been plenty of new restaurants in D.C. since then, and Jaleo has filled up with tourists and conference attendees. It is still one of the…

Tacos, which I ate as part of a book club. I’d been reading Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation for the second time in six months, and this time around the world he described felt not quite as threatening and perhaps more awe-inspiring; it’s possible that in the summer I’m more willing to ascribe benign qualities to nature….

Banana bread pudding. At a new restaurant in the neighborhood which referred to itself as a chophouse, they gave us a dessert that was as big as a helping of lasagna. In texture, it alternated between a soft bread and softer bananas held together with caramel sauce. We were talking with a friend who had…

Ground beef with hot sauce. I made it home to watch Argentina play soccer with the United States and barely ever let them touch the ball, which is as it should be; someone needs to put us in our place. I went to bed at nine and it was still light outside, and I felt…

Hot cross muffins. They were supposed to be quick substitutes for hot cross buns, but the soft texture and sweet frosting couldn’t truly be replicated in a muffin kind of way. They ended up being tasty enough that if taken simply as plain raisin muffins they would have been fine savory treats, like muffin scones….

So tonight, on the second-longest day of the year, we went outside and ate a salad of romaine and mint and basil that had been picked five feet away from us, with lemon vinaigrette and a grilled salmon. There are many definitions of contentment, but this is one of my favorites. (Photo: Flowers, front yard.)…

Collard greens. We put them over hamburgers, and it was the first time all year long that I cooked anything on the grill. I’ll blame the rain, and our frantic schedules. When I order collard greens in restaurants they usually come out soft and pulpy, like the proverbial spinach you didn’t want to eat as…

Our dinner at a Korean restaurant in the neighborhood was a frustrating experience with respect to both the service and the food, and I was ready to crumple up the whole week and throw it away. The only part worth remembering was the sikhye, a sweet dessert drink made with barley malt powder and rice….

At a work event on a rooftop in honor of the solstice, I spent the evening nibbling on sweet pea and cashew fritters with cumin apple chutney, bread slices with tapenade, and tacos with a lot of guacamole. (Photo: View of the clouds above a rooftop, Washington, D.C.) >> June 17 << June 15

We decided to go to a vigil in Dupont and needed to find somewhere quick to eat, and we were about to go someplace I never in my wildest dreams thought would appear on the pages of this website: McDonald’s. As it turns out that would have been the better choice, as we instead ended…

Two hot dogs at Nationals Park.  I almost never drink beer (for health reasons, I guess), but for practical purposes it’s the only beverage available at a ballpark, so I tried something from a stand where they had Shock Top and Stella. The name of whatever I ordered was Morning Brew or Morning Sunlight or…

Exhaustion overtook me before half the day was done, and then somehow I got on a Capital Bikeshare bike and met people for Scrabble at Whole Foods. The grocery store did not have any food for me, however, or at least I had no desire to wait half an hour in the express line. I…